"Plain Jane" 1970 Nova Build

[EZ Nova]

Nice set-up there Wayne, Pretty close to mine in my 69 Nova, but mine is a spool and is 66/67 Chevy II width so a bit narrower. Got a deal on it used as people didn't think the 12 bolt should be in a 7 second car (car was running 7.65 with it when I bought it off him due to twisting axles).

What did you do for rear shackles? My 69 runs Smith bars and there split mono's with Afco's rear sliders. Like to see what you did with the rear to what others told me to do if I kept the shackles and not the sliders.

I haven't ran the car at the track with that set-up yet. Maybe this summer who knows with life. Car has run 10.40's with a nice L78 with ported heads and a small comp solid roller, M21 and 4.56 in the stock '69 12 bolt and spring set-up.

Waiting for results when the weather breaks.

[CamaroNOS]

Amazing, we could only be this fortunate to be able to see "inside" your build.

I see a lot of guys making a bunch of notes as they read the fine details. There definitely will be a few of our cars out there running quicker than ever.

The detail is staggering and thank you for sharing this with us. Please keep teaching us.

Paul

[CamaroNOS]

Originally Posted by dykstra

Damn Wayne! Plain Jane has the Kim Kardashian of rear ends!LOL

Just read this.....lol.....how true.

Paul

[cook_dw]

This is an impressive modern day modified car. Very clean and reversible if ever wanted; although I never would. Well done.

[Pro Stock John]

Great build. I've occasionally seen cars like this pop up.

[Arrowsmith]

I was backordered on some of the necessary suspension parts (lower a-arms were one of the big issues). Because of this, I decided to press forward building other parts of the car -- in particular, the interior.

One of the first jobs I did was to modify the old 3-on-the-tree column. I found a bowl from a floor shift car, swapped out the steering wheel assembly, eliminated all unnecessary column shift pieces internally, re-lubed the column and reassembled it with a new three-spoke finger grip wheel. I reduced the size of the interlock pieces and safety wired them. I discovered drilling the interlock pieces was much more difficult than it sounds. A local machine shop gave it try and gave up. Other machine shops laughed...Just before I sent the piece off to get EDM machined, I tried a bit for granite tile. It worked!:



The tach is an AutoMeter Pro Comp Monster. I used a conventional xl-size hose clamp to mount it, but I hated the look. So I trimmed back everything I could on the clamp, and then used a large heat shrink sleeve to cover it. I think the mount turned out well:



Electric water temp and mechanical oil PSI are also AutoMeter ProComp jobs. I didn't like any commercially available gauge brackets so I made my own:



I always use a warning lamp for line locks. Instead of the standard cheap Hurst job, I used this aircraft indicator from Aircraft Spruce:



On the engine compartment side, I used a 90-degree AN bulkhead fitting for the oil psi gauge. There's a -3AN Teflon line in the cockpit that goes from the passenger compartment side of the fitting to the pressure gauge. And on the engine side, I use a short -3AN Teflon line to the Dart block oil gallery just above the bell housing flange. It's all very easy to assemble and disassemble.



This is the sender harness for the water temp gauge. I wrapped it in aircraft spi-wrap and then wrapped that with OEM style harness tape so it looks sort of stock:



Much of a new big block engine harness was disassembled. I stripped every wire I didn't need and then re-wrapped it with harness tape. The harness is now very minimal:



I cut, drilled and shaped a 1/4-inch thick nylon board in the shape of the backside of the OEM-style firewall heater delete plate. This became my ignition board inside the car:



As you can see, I use an MSD 7AL2 and a very conventional MSD compatible coil for ignition. I think the wiring job came out pretty well:



Here's the whole thing mounted up under the dash. It is just over the carpet line. I used AN fasteners to hold the works in place.



Outside, the main power/ground wires for the MSD route directly to the battery (per MSD instructions). The actual switch for on-off is wired to the fuse box. I used silver plated aircraft wire here -- it has a much smaller diameter for the wire gauge, and the jacket is much stiffer. I wrapped it with harness tape and the wire goes through one of the firewall insulator plugs:



Downstairs, I replaced the back seat seat belt bolts with longer grade eight fasteners. This provides a spot to hang the exhaust turnouts under the car.



That's all for now...More later...

[Pro Stock John]

Originally Posted by EZ Nova

Nice set-up there Wayne, Pretty close to mine in my 69 Nova, but mine is a spool and is 66/67 Chevy II width so a bit narrower. Got a deal on it used as people didn't think the 12 bolt should be in a 7 second car (car was running 7.65 with it when I bought it off him due to twisting axles).

What did you do for rear shackles? My 69 runs Smith bars and there split mono's with Afco's rear sliders. Like to see what you did with the rear to what others told me to do if I kept the shackles and not the sliders.

I haven't ran the car at the track with that set-up yet. Maybe this summer who knows with life. Car has run 10.40's with a nice L78 with ported heads and a small comp solid roller, M21 and 4.56 in the stock '69 12 bolt and spring set-up.

Waiting for results when the weather breaks.

12 bolt is good for drag racing until it ain't. A buddy ran his into the high 4's in the 1/8th. Another buddy is running 8.70's with his 12 bolt and his 31 spline axles were twisting, so ordered another set for this season and next winter he'll decide if he goes 9".

[olredalert]

----The original 12-bolt is in Red Alert to this day. I know the car doesn't get any use today, but think of the punishment it's been thru. I know the axles were hardened or replaced, but have no idea of the manufacturer. They were checked for twist many times over my ownership and never a sign of anything wrong!.....Bill S

[EZ Nova]

Originally Posted by Pro Stock John

12 bolt is good for drag racing until it ain't. A buddy ran his into the high 4's in the 1/8th. Another buddy is running 8.70's with his 12 bolt and his 31 spline axles were twisting, so ordered another set for this season and next winter he'll decide if he goes 9".

Usually a 9" is a Hp robber and will slow him down. He would probably be better moving up to 35 spline 12 bolt. We IRHA National record holding B/D I crewed with, ran for many seasons with a 12 bolt running 7.40's in the 1/4, but light car dragster. Tried a 9" and slowed 7 hundred with no other change.

Now with that being said, weight, power and type of power adder all play a part in the strength handling of a 12 bolt. A car with a turbo will help a 12 bolt last better then a big nitrous motor.

With a 9", when really getting after it and making it the best, with do a whack of different mods, cryo and lighten gears, Ti bolts, Indy/Dewco center, ceramic bearers etc.

[big gear head]

My friend Shane is running a '69 Camaro in A/S with a Jerico 4 speed and a Moser 12 bolt. The car has broke into the 9s.